- Robert “Two Sheds” Birnbaum is at it again. This time, he talks with Camille Paglia. The real question here is whether Camille was ever confused for a pirate incarnation of Princess Leia.
- The Tireless Dan Wickett is now talking with publicists as part of his latest panel series. We suspect that Mr. Wickett will be interviewing some of the people in the warehouse before the year is up.
- We could honestly care less about the Quills Awards, largely because Nick Hornby and Sue Monk Kidd should not be encouraged any further. But if you care, the nonsense can be found here.
- A new symposium will compare Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics with Walt Whitman and Samuel Beckett.
- Apparently, The Almond: The Sexual Awakening of a Muslim Woman is, according to the Daily Star, “no more original than that of the film 9 1/2 Weeks, without the soundtrack to keep it going.”
- Yo, Book Babes, it’s Epileptic, not Epilepsy.
- A sketch of Ted Hughes drawn by Sylvia Plath is up for auction this fall.
Year / 2005
Bush Still Perfecting 21st Century Answer to Heil Hitler Salute
“Death by Asphyxia” is the New “Shot While Trying to Escape”
Washington Post: “Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents. The sleeping bag was the idea of a soldier who remembered how his older brother used to force him into one, and how scared and vulnerable it made him feel. Senior officers in charge of the facility near the Syrian border believed that such ‘claustrophobic techniques’ were approved ways to gain information from detainees, part of what military regulations refer to as a ‘fear up’ tactic, according to military court documents.”
The Scariest Two Sentences I Am Likely To Read This Week
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “But after a career in television news and sports and as a musician recording albums and performing concerts, Tesh is back on radio in earnest. He is host of a nationally syndicated show heard on more than 200 stations around the country.”
The way I believe it works is this: if you have a frightening Nordic forehead and your musical contributions involve banging primitive arrangements onto a keyboard (not unlike a passive-aggressive caveman), you will, indeed, find work.
[RELATED: Developmentally disabled people are very excited about Huey Lewis & The News. (this link via MeFi)]
This Being Said, Almost Anyone Is Better Than Rex Reed
Over at the Book Standard, Adam Langer presents a taxonomy of interviewed authors. The categories Langer presents are The Freewheeling Improviser, He/She Who Does Not Suffer Fools Gladly, The Unself-conscious Subject, The Consummate Storyteller and The Genuinely Decent Human Being. It’s not a bad list, but, without naming names (and this certainly doesn’t apply to any of my Segundo subjects thus far, who have all been fantastic) and drawing upon my experiences in journalism from the late ’90s, I’d also include The Chronic Plugger, He/She Who Will Only Speak in Soundbytes, The Most Important Voice of Our Time, and the TMI Exhibitionist.
I have to disagree somewhat with Langer’s claim that it is the subject’s duty to respond in erudite fashion to the questions. While it does indeed take two to tango, it is the interviewer’s job to find a common ground, to figure out early on how revelatory a subject is likely to be and adjust accordingly, to know the right time to stray from the prepared questions, to provide as comfortable a setting as one can have under the circumstances, and to ask a critical or provocative question at the right moment. Speaking for myself, one thing I’ve noted is that I tend to ramble too much. I’ve begun taking steps to rectify this. And the silly preamble “I’d like to touch upon…” seems to enter my vernacular when I’m talking with someone. Practice, I suppose, makes perfect.
[RELATED: There’s an interesting discussion over at Scott’s about what constitutes a stupid interview question and whether or not this is even a factor.]
(via Moorish Girl)